Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a liquid drainage mechanism for draining liquid from a moving member that moves along a predetermined path as well as to a machine tool equipped with a liquid drainage mechanism.
Description of the Related Art:
In machine tools, a fluid is supplied between a moving member and a guide member that form an axis, so as to form a static pressure bearing, thereby improving the slidability of the moving member to the guide member. In particular, use of oil (liquid) as the fluid enhances the rigidity of the bearing and improves vibration damping performance when the moving member moves.
Here, if the liquid drainage mechanism of the machine tool is configured to drop used oil directly from the bearing, the oil scatters and soils the machine tool and unintended surrounding parts. To deal with such a situation, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-218047 discloses a configuration of a lubrication oil collecting device in which an oil pan is attached to the lower end of a vertically movable cross rail (moving member). That is, this oil pan collects the oil that has been used as a lubricant, while moving together with the moving member.